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This section is for discussions with other women who have probably been through the same signs/symptoms that you may be experiencing. Please note, we cannot offer medical advice and encourage members to discuss their concerns with their doctors. New members, come on in and introduce yourself!

How is this going? Your current situation sounds almost exactly the same as mine. Did the pregnancy turn out alright? You have all the same symptoms as me, I was just diagnosed with migranes because of the headaches and visual disturbances. I hope this turned out alright for you.

Well, my doctor is finally taking my symptoms seriously. He was concerned about my protein increase, continued high BP (143/92 at my apt.) and headache. He took me out of work and sent me home to do another 24 hr urine, which I turned in yesterday. I had them check my BP then and it was 138/89. He wasn't so concerned about my side pains. They were pretty consistent through the weekend even waking me up at night which concerned me, but I have not been bothered by them for the past two days. It seems to flare up, not sure if its related to when my BP spikes. I am scheduled for a growth scan and another follow-up next Thursday. I am a bit nervous about it. I have been complaining for a while that I don't think this baby is active enough. I am 28 weeks and have not had those movements that make your belly roll, just some weak kicks and hiccups. Some days i hardly feel any movement at all. I feel like i am just waiting for bad news, as bad as that sounds. I still just have that gut feeling something is wrong.

Thank you for your comment. I will certainly try some of your suggestions. My 24hr came back okay, at 175 (up from 145 3 weeks ago), my blood work did show slightly elevated neurtophils and boarderline low Leucocytes. Also my urine on 7/15 at the hospital had ketones in it. I do know that the neutrophils mean high while blood cell count which indicates infection. I see the doctor next week so I will check with him then to see what all this means. My thought is that since I don't have high protein that he won't be worried about the lab results. I will make sure he continues to do lab work to make sure these levels don't change. Working fulltime at a stressful job and then coming home to care for 2 young kids is wearing me down and I know that it has to be contributing to my symptoms because I literally get no rest until bedtime every night. My doc asks at each appointment if I am ready to cut back my hours and I have not because my disability policy makes part-time work difficult so I have told him I either need to be out all together or just tough it out a bit longer. It maybe getting close to time to go on early leave.

As soon as my face and neck puffed up I started spilling proteins like crazy. But I was very persistent, calling the nurse and docs, I think they thought I was a hypochondriac and they kept insisting I must have had high BP pre pregnancy. Worst case scenario, if you have good insurance, take yourself to an ER when your BP is high and when you have been having the visual disturbances (mine was like bright flashing fireworks that normally you'd get after staring at the sun when you close your eyes only while eyes are opened). You know your body better than anyone else. This is a good way to get a second opinion and in the ER they know your concerns are serious and will generally take you pretty seriously as they don't see whining pregnant mothers every day (some OBs chalk it up to that).

Another tip on BP, take it sitting down, take it again at rest laying down, stand up and quickly take it again. If your BP is plunging when you stand up after laying down, that's another sign that you are not in the best of health.

Another thing to try, push on your thighs or calves really hard, squeeze them, and if it stays indented longer than normal, you have bad edema. Same with the face, slight swelling in hands and feet is normal but your face should not balloon up badly. And you usually won't get hit with HELLP syndrome unless you have preeclampsia already.

I took my BP monitor to work with me today and just had a reading of 126/80 and I am seeing that gray cloud in my vision. My heart rate is 117. This is why I hate bring the monitor with me to work, it just ends up making me more concerned. I can't just go home and rest, I have to save my sick time for disability. Ugh, this is so frustrating.

I am 26 weeks 5 days. Yesterday afternoon my face suddently got swollen, more on the right side. This morning, it pretty swollen on both sides. I was outside in the heat for several hours yesterday and my arms and hands had swollen up too, but most of it went down a couple of hours after I got home (except my face, which is noticeably worse today. I took my 24 hr urine into the doctors this morning and asked them to check my BP while I was there since I had the face swelling and some headaches and it was okay, 122/75. The bottom number is 15 points high for me though, but of course according to the standards it is normal. I had my sugar test and blood work done last week so I have a call into the office to get them to send me the test results along with all the other labs that they have in my chart so that I can compare them. I am scheduled to follow up with the doctor late next week. I will definatly ask for the referral to the specialist and I think its time to make sure my baby is growing properly.

Your symptoms sound worrisome and I don't like that your doctor said that labs don't matter if the protein is not elevated. I also think that you might want to be checked by an MFM at this point. How far along are you?

I'm glad you're doing a 24 hour urine test. That's much more accurate than the dip tests and will give you a better idea of what is going on. Are you seeing an MFM, or just your regular OB? It concerns me that your OB says labs don't matter unless you're spilling protein. It's unusual but possible to have HELLP syndrome without/before being diagnostic for PE. If you don't feel like you're getting the care you need, can you switch or at least get a second opinion? Your symptoms are definitely concerning, and I would want an OB who takes it seriously.

I am still having quite a bit of headaches and visual disturbances and now can add shortness of breath. Last Monday, I went into see the oncall doctor because I was having pretty consistant right side pain and wanted to report the new dark gray cloud that I had been experiencing in my vision. My BP was 130/90 at the appointment so she sent me to L&D, BP was lower on arrival and continued to drop back to normal which is 114/60. Labs and urine came back fine so I was sent home. Several days ago, I was having severe lower right side abdomen pain which was constant, did not come and go. After looking online, I went and got a home UTI test. It showed elevated Leukocytes (white blood cells) but the second part of the test was negative. I was not having any pain when urinating or problems emptying my bladder, just constant, heavy pain in my lower stomach. I had my regular OB apt scheduled for the next day so decided to wait it out and drink lots of cranberry juice. The pain got worse that night before it got better, but overnight it calmed down and by morning it was 80% better and by my doctors appointment that afternoon it was nearly gone, but I have had several episodes of diarrhea and woke up feeling pretty crapy today. I explained the pain and UTI test result to my doc and he said the pain was braxton hicks which are different now because of my scar tissue, which I don't buy. I have had them before and they come and go and are not constant, double over in pain type pains. My feeling is that it may have been a UTI, but I thought he should have looked into that more to see if I needed antibiotics. Also my BP at the appointment was 140/90, up again! He just said that unless I get protein in my urine then I don;t need to do anything different and there was nothing to worry about. I asked if he could compare my L&D labs since I have now been sent twice, just to see if the numbers were going up any. He said those labs don't matter unless I have protein in my urine. As far as I know he has not ever personally looked at those labs. He sent me home with a 24hr urine test and said if it is elevated he would take me out of work. I follow-up in 2 weeks. That night at home my BP was reading normal 110/65.

I am so confused. I have episodes once a week where I feel like I don't have the energy to walk and have severe headaches. I get floaters on and off everyday along with this dark cloud in my vision that pops up. I have swelling up to my knees, that does not go down with rest or elevation. My legs look like logs, there is no difference in size between my thighs and calves. I have been gaining a lot of weight, like 20-lbs in the last month. If I don't end up with PreE and just have PIH, should I be concerned, should I reduce my activity level, be followed more regularly. I was trying to not stress about all these issues and just ignore them and let my doctor do his job, but watching my BP rise at each appointment worrys me, even more the floaters and visual disturbances that occur throughout the day. I just feel like my body is telling me that something is wrong. I saw my eye doc to get a second opinion about my vision and everything checked out fine, he thinks my BP maybe spiking during the day and I am just not catching it. I don't bring my BP monitor to work anymore, because I was watching it go up throughout the day, but it was going back down after work and when I am in a calm environment. It was only stressing me out more to check it 3 times a day so now I just occasionally check it. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am interested if anyone else has had my experience.

Hello and welcome.
It is hard to know whether you will develop PE or not, but from what your are describing and your pregnancy history, I think it warrants a visit to the MFM. I would definitely ask your OB for a referral. If you are not happy with your current doctor/care, would you consider changing? It is important that you feel comfortable in the care you receive. There is nothing worse than feeling unheard or brushed off by your doctor.
Please always report ALL symptoms, this is very important, as not all symptoms necessarily need to present nor in any specific order . Here is a list of all symptoms, so if you experience any of them, please let your doctor know. https://www.preeclampsia.org/signs-and-symptoms
Visual disturbances (seeing spots) or headaches should be reported immediately. This can be a serious, and your doctor needs to decide whether you need to be seen. I had those weird headaches on the top and side of my head, and I had those only with PE.